Brandon Broadwater | Master Your Power Within®

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The problem of struggle, as I like to call it. I DESCRIBE It WITH THE questions listed below.

Q1. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Q2. Why is there evil in the world?

Q3. If there is a God, how could he let this happen?

Q4. I didn’t deserve this, why me?

There they are . . . It is questions like this that we may ask ourselves, The Universe, and others.

Several times life has thrown me a curveball. Once I not only swung and missed… but that curveball hit me square in the face.

Have you ever had experiences like that?

You may be standing at the plate with perfect form. You are wearing your best uniform. You have studied all the strategy and technique. You know your competition, are better than them and are eagerly awaiting so you can just knock it out of the park?

Then all of a sudden the baseball hits you square between the eyes.

Life has a way of sneaking up on us like that, doesn’t it?

We think we are prepared, then BAM! We get knocked to our knees only to be left to claw our way back.

So what is the deal with this opposition, struggle, and even at times failure?

What is the point?

I believe there is a purpose to pain, I believe that there is substance to suffering, I believe there is meaning in misery.

Why?

Because the universe is much more interested in our character than our checking account. The universe is much more concerned with our attributes than our affluence.

If we don’t pick up on this we will find ourselves forever chasing something that is just out of reach, or worse yet, we may attain that which we seek, only for us to lose it.

What is the lesson?

It’s that life is always happening for us not just to us.

This is one of the hardest mindsets to keep in place. Because the times we need to remember it most is when we are going through the divorce. It is when we are going through the bankruptcy. It is when we are going through the death of a loved one. It is when our health fails us. It is when our business ventures crash and burn.

“It will be very interesting one day to follow the pattern of our life as it is spread out like a beautiful tapestry. As long as we live here we see only the reverse side of the weaving, and very often the pattern, with its threads running wildly, doesn’t seem to make sense. Someday, however, we shall understand. In looking back over the years we can discover [the threads that go] through the pattern of our life.”

We will find that the times of struggle and difficulty created a strength inside us, strength earned through grit and determination. One that sculpts and shapes who we are. Without it, we would be incomplete.

We go through struggle and trials in our life not just for our own benefit but for that of others. I believe we go through such trying times for this cause.

Once we have made it to the other side of opposition, then we can help others get to where we are. Once we have made it through our darkness we can shine a light to those who have not yet found their way.

Look at one of the most successful addiction recovery programs out there, Alcoholics Anonymous. What is their 12th step in their famous “12 step process?”

To help another alcoholic.

Oftentimes we fail and pass through difficulty so that we can level up so that we can get stronger. But I also believe that once we have achieved that strength it is our calling and responsibility to turn around and do the same for others. Because we have an enduring strength that was forged in the fires of failure and adversity.

As with all circumstances and situations in life… we can choose the meaning that we associate with such events. We can choose to become embittered in trying times, or we can choose to rise up.

We can choose to become better, rather than letting our adversity break us.

I make this case that failure and adversity can, and likely will be a meaningful teacher for us at times in our life. However, I do want to labor the point that learning through soul-stretching, will-testing, failure, and opposition is not the only way to learn. In fact, there are elements that can be expedited. There are Higher Laws to be learned and more efficient ways to achieve what we hope to achieve.

What’s next

If you have failed a time or two in your life, take heart, you have friends. If you have failed or are currently failing at some aspect of your life, it is up to you to see that the failure becomes a training and testing ground, rather than a graveyard for whatever endeavor you are striving for.

There are times where failure prepares us to help ourselves and help others in our journey to master our power within. There are times where failure is the required price to get through to the next level. So don’t waste your failure, rather use it as a springboard to move you forward.

When we have been to the deepest darkest places, we then are capable of lifting ourselves, and others to the highest places.

The journey from surviving to thriving lies in the mindset. If we don’t figure out some clear distinctions about 4 critical mindsets laid out in the Prosperity Quadrant™, we will surely fall short of what we could be, and do, and accomplish. We will certainly find ourselves struggling more than we need to.

Chances are pretty good that you or someone close to you falls into some of the traps that we will cover in the article here today.

Below is a breakdown of The Prosperity Quadrant™. It is important to note that we are not solely talking about a person’s financial status, but even more so about their mindset and attitude.

The Poor

Those who are in the poor quadrant may find themselves constantly struggling to be able to keep their relationships together. They likely base their life decisions on circumstantial situations, rather than rock solid principles. The poor find themselves lacking and wanting in just about every facet of their lives. Their money will always run away from them because of mindset and patterns of spending. Their lives are dominated by scarcity. They likely have not achieved any high level of success in their endeavors. They are imprisoned by their attitudes and oftentimes their financial and physical situation.

The Middle Class

The Middle Class are those who have some aspects of their lives put together. For a financial example, a Middle-Class person is likely someone who has a strong steady job that has provided them with a decent income. However, they are likely spending beyond their means in order to impress others or to convince themselves of some sort of internal inadequacy or shortcoming. The middle class will do things to keep up with appearances, they are often driven by emotions and the views of others rather than working from a sound base of knowledge. The middle class may spend more on a home or a vehicle because of the way it looks, rather than what makes fiscal sense.

How can you know what someone’s priorities are? It is where they spend their time.

The Poor and Middle Class may say that money is not important. But they spend most of their time working for it. Their mentality is incongruent with their actions.

The Rich

The Rich are those who have achieved a certain level of success or status. They have probably accumulated a great deal of wealth in a financial sense, or a particular level of wealth in some aspect of their lives. Perhaps someone may be rich in their relationship with their children, but it could be in detriment to the relationship with their partner or spouse. Perhaps someone may be rich in aspects of personal health and fitness, to the detriment of their ability to connect with and influence others. The rich have indeed conquered foes on the field of battle, however, they may fail to realize that they have not yet won the war.

The Abundant

The Abundant, are those who have breakthrough success. They are those who live a life of harmonious balance. Those who are Abundant get on the other side of leverage, with both their money and their time. A key misunderstanding about those who are Abundant is that they may devote an equal amount of time or resources to all important aspects of their lives at all times. This is not so. A harmonious melody often has crescendos, ebbs and flows, even times of silence. This is what living a life of Abundance is like. Not sacrificing the relationships for the cause of making money, however realizing that money is still a very important and healthy part of life.

Those who are Abundant typically have access and proximity to knowledge, which is foundational and rock solid. The Abundant live a life of principle and as such experience a great deal of joy. When faced with adversity or tragedy, the Abundant will be able to keep perspective as to what is most important, and they will “stay the course.” Living a life of Abundance is something we all ought to strive for. As Brandon Broadwater says, “The Rich may have all the things that money can buy, but the Abundant also have those things which money cannot buy.”

The Ultimate Measurement Tool

The Prosperity Quadrant™ can be a great measurement tool, in documenting our progression and success. It can help us identify where we are at in our transition to greatness and abundance. By understanding and utilizing the quadrants we can better identify errors in our thinking and attitude. Oftentimes if we catch those thinking or attitude errors soon enough, we can prevent them from manifesting in our daily lives.